Widener family

Widener family

The American Widener family of Peter Arrell Brown Widener (1834-1915) and his wife Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836-1896) were from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and were one of the wealthiest families in the United States. In 1883 Widener was part of the founding partnership of the Philadelphia Traction Company and used the great wealth accumulated from that business to become a founding organizer of U.S. Steel and the American Tobacco Company.

The legacy of Peter and Hannah Widener includes the Widener Library at Harvard University but even more important was the implanting of a social conscience in their children that has been passed down from generation to generation. While the family fortune dwindled over time through enormous estate taxes and the natural division and redivision by inheritors, many of their 21st century descendants continue to be involved in charitable works.

Peter and Hannah Widener built Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a 110-room Georgian-style mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer where they assembled one of the most valuable art collections in the country. Left a vast fortune, their offspring became one of the most prominent in American Thoroughbred horse racing history as well as a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Widener University and the Widener School for Crippled Children.

The descendants of Peter Arrell Brown Widener and Hannah Josephine Dunton include:
* George Dunton Widener (1861-1912)
* Joseph E. Widener (1871-1943)
* Harry Elkins Widener (1885-1912)
* George D. Widener, Jr. (1889-1971)
* Peter A. B. Widener II (1895-1948)
* Gertrude T. Widener (1897-1970)
* Josephine P. Widener (1902-1961)
* Peter A. B. Widener III (1925-1999)
* Ella Anne Widener (1928-1986)
* Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr. (1923-2006)

Widener related subjects:
* RMS Titanic
* Widener Library
* Widener University
* Widener School for Crippled Children
* New Bolton Center at Widener Hospital
* National Gallery of Art
* Lynnewood Hall
* National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
* Elmendorf Farm
* Happy Hill Farm
* Belmont Park
* Hialeah Park Race Track
* Widener Handicap

References

* "Without Drums" by Peter A. B. Widener II, G. P. Putnam's Sons (1940)
* [http://www.nga.gov/ National Gallery of Art web site]
* [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ Encyclopedia-Titanica.org]
* Temple University Archives


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